Igbo - Sociopolitical Organization

Social Organization.
Traditional Igbo social life is based on membership in kinship groups
and parallel but complementary dual-sex associations, which are of great
importance to the integration of society. The associations take several
forms, including age grades, men's societies, women's
societies, and prestige-title societies such as the Nze or Ozo for men
and the Omu, Ekwe, or Lolo for women. The interlocking nature of these
groups prevents the concentration of authority in any one association.
Age sets are informally established during childhood. Respect and
recognition among the Igbo are accorded not only on the basis of age,
but also through the acquisition of traditional titles. In Igbo society,
an individual may progress through at least five levels of titles. One
could liken the acquisition of titles to the acquisition of academic
degrees. Titles are expensive to obtain, and each additional title costs
more than the preceding one; they are, therefore, considered a sure
means to upward mobility.

Political Organization.
The basic political unit among the Igbo is the village. Two types of
political systems have been distinguished among the Igbo on both sides
of the Niger River: the democratic village republic type, found among
the Igbo living to the east of the Niger River, and the constitutional
monarchy type, found among Igbo in Delta State and the riverine towns of
Onitsha and Ossomali. Most of the villages or towns that have the latter
type of political system have two ruling monarchs—one female and
one male. The
obi
(male monarch) is theoretically the father of the whole community, and
the
omu
(female monarch) is theoretically the mother of the whole community;
the duties of the latter, however, center mainly around the female side
of the community.

Women engage in village politics (i.e., manage their affairs, separately
from the men). They do this by establishing their own political
organizations, which come under an overall village or town
Women's Council under the leadership of seasoned matriarchs. It
was this organizational system that enabled Igbo women and Ibibio women
to wage an anticolonial struggle against the British in 1929 known as
the Women's War (Ogu Umunwayi).

Both types of political systems are characterized by the smallness in
size of the political units, the wide dispersal of political authority
between the sexes, kinship groups, lineages, age sets, title societies,
diviners, and other professional groups. Colonialism has had a
detrimental effect on the social, political, and economic status of
traditional Igbo women, resulting in a gradual loss of autonomy and
power.